Producer's Notes by: Jeff Felts

Email: JeffFelts@kedt.org

I only had one brief opportunity to meet Dr. Hector P. Garcia. In 1989, just a couple of years after he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan, he was invited to the KEDT-TV studio to appear on one of our public affairs shows. The program would be a heated debate on whether English should be declared the "official language" of the United States. Dr. Garcia was adamantly opposed to any such legislation, and that day he was prepared to make his point on television.

At the time, I was an entry-level associate Producer at KEDT. It was my job to simply greet the guests and escort them to the green room. There they would have powder applied to their foreheads so not to shine under the bright studio lights. As Dr. Garcia and I silently walked the halls back to the green room, I could not help but notice the golden Medal of Freedom attached to a blue and red ribbon he wore around his neck.

After sitting down in the make-up chair, he looked up at me and said these prophetic words; "Do you know who I am?" A little stunned and embarrassed, I believe that I politely relied, "Of course I do."

Truth be told, I did not really know much about Dr. Hector P. Garcia. For many in Corpus Christi he was an icon, but at that time to me he was an old soldier that appeared on the local news speaking at Veterans and Memorial Day ceremonies. That brief and somewhat awkward conversation would be my only personal contact with the man whose story would later consume six years of my television career.

In 1996, a plaza was being dedicated to honor Dr. Garcia at the campus of Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. I was asked by my General Manager Don Dunlap to look at creating a five-minute video on the life of Dr. Garcia, which could be played at a video kiosk in the University library. Despite the new plaza, many of the students at Texas A&M Corpus Christi had no more of an idea about Dr. Garcia than I did.

One of my first instincts was to try and schedule an on-camera interview with him, but I soon learned that he was too ill, in the final stages of fighting the cancer that would soon claim his life.

With no possibility of an interview, I launched into studying his papers, which reside at the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Bell Library. I was stunned by the vast collection of letters, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks and photos in 900 file folder boxes of the Dr. Hector P. Garcia collection. But it wasn't just the volume of material that impressed me, but the quality of the collection. A great untold story of the Mexican-American struggle for civil rights through the life of Dr. Hector P. Garcia was revealed with each piece of paper that I studied. It became clear why Yale University, and the University of Texas among others had attempted to gain this collection before Dr. Garcia selected Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

Reporting back to my General Manager, I told him there was much more than a five-minute kiosk video to be done here - this had the making of a Public Television documentary. So began the effort to produce Justice for my People: The Dr. Hector P. Garcia Story.

A documentary of this scope is not something that usually comes from a small-market PBS station. Only because of the efforts of many people who committed themselves fully did the program become a reality.

Pamela J. Edwards was the first person to thoroughly research the entire Garcia collection. Sometimes, TV producers have a book to start with, on which a documentary is then based. In our case nothing of the sort existed, and Pam spent two years creating the book of research which became our outline for the program.

Maria I. McMath played a major role in creating this documentary. Maria delayed her Ph.D. studies and moved to Corpus Christi to help me at a critical point in the storytelling process. Maria's opinions on interviewees, and how to visually illustrate the story made a tremendous impact on the program. She traveled across Texas to find missing pieces of the puzzle. Thank you Maria for the sacrifices you made to tell the world about Dr. Hector.

John Frank acted as on-line editor for the program. This documentary was the first computer based non-linear edited project for both of us. I appreciate John's patience and persistence in learning a new way of editing, then working hundreds of hours getting everything just as I visualized it- even when sometimes I could not explain exactly what I had in mind.

Paul Pope acted as co-scriptwriter for documentary. His common sense approach on copywriting provided a clear direction.

I'm especially indebted to the artists at Stephen Arnold Music for the incredible moving music score. Thanks to Tim Thomson and Chris Hogan for their work on filming the re-enactment scenes and to Frank Van Heughten and the team at Quadrant Productions for the high quality look of our interviews.

With a program containing this much history, it is wise for a TV Producer to enlist the help of an Advisory Board. To all thirteen members of that board who took time to read drafts of the script and provided me direction, I am appreciative.

To the staff, management and board members of South Texas Public Broadcasting - I sincerely thank you for your support and patience on a project that took much longer to complete than we ever imagined, but was well worth the wait.

And finally, to the greater South Texas community, who supported this project with their financial contributions, provided information and words of encouragement, thank you.

Now when I remember that day long ago when Dr. Garcia asked, "Do you know who I am?" I say to myself, "Yes, Dr. Garcia I know you are, as hundreds of others will learn- you are an American hero."